Tony remembers the privilege of watching MTV as a kid. He was only allowed one hour of viewing, but he had to get his babysitter’s permission. She was on the phone to her boyfriend and her other ear had an infection, so she couldn’t hear Tony begging for permission. Finally, he declared he would run away if she didn’t answer. He went and got a trashbag to fill with clothes and legos, and he dragged the bag 3 blocks to a friend’s house. His dad knew all the cops in town through business at the hardware store, so he had all the police looking for Tony. When Tony saw all the police combing the neighborhood, he ran out to say hello. He didn’t realize they were looking for him. He ended up losing his MTV privileges for the entire summer.

Steve Kemble told us about his brother’s attempt to sneak out of the house, and Steve was supposed to play accomplice. His brother had snuck out before by crawling out the window on to the tiered roof, jumping down to the lower level, and scooting down the wood shingles to the ground. Steve’s brother ended up losing his footing and sliding all the way down on the wood shingles. He ended up spending two weeks in the hospital and had more than 300 splinters removed from his arms.

John was 12 when he decided to pack up a pillow case and walk out. He ended up making it a couple of miles before he got thirsty. He turned around and walked back home.